Long- and short-distance signaling in the regulation of lateral plant growth

Lateral growth of shoot and root axes by the formation of secondary vascular tissues is an instructive example for the plasticity of plant growth processes. Being purely postembryonic, lateral growth strongly depends on environmental input and is tightly regulated by long- and short-distance signaling. In general, plant vasculature represents the main route for long-distance transport of compounds throughout the plant body, thereby providing also a fast and efficient signaling pipeline for the coordination of growth and development. The vasculature consists of three major tissues; the xylem conducts water and nutrients, the phloem transports mainly organic compounds and the vascular cambium is a group of undifferentiated stem cells responsible for the continuous production of secondary vascular tissues. Notably, the close proximity to functional vascular tissues makes the vascular cambium especially accessible for the regulation by long-distance-derived signaling molecules as well as by the physical and physiological properties of transport streams. Thus, the vascular cambium offers unique opportunities for studying the complex regulation of plant growth processes. In this review, we focus on recent findings about long- and short-distance signaling mechanisms regulating cambium activity and, thereby, lateral expansion of plant growth axes by the formation of additional vascular tissues.